Hatching Day
by Anime Monkey Girl Fan
Summary: Season 3 Spoilers. Initially, Skales had no interest in raising a child of his own. Little did he know how quickly that perspective would change.


**If you have not seen the recently released episodes for Ninjago: Rebooted (specifically episode 30), beware of spoilers.**

* * *

Skales was _really_ not looking forward to today.

With a positively _bored_ expression, the Hypnobrai general stood beside his wife, Extasia, as they waited in front of the nest. Buried half-way in the dirt was a round, cerulean-colored egg, which contained their would-be child.

"Can you believe it, Skales?" said Extasia, whilst clenching her hands together. "Any minute now, we're going to be parentsss!"

"Oh, yesss," Skales replied, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated matter. "I'm _sssso _exhilarated."

Extasia fixed her husband with a glare. "You can at leassst _try_ to act excited. Our firssst child is on itsss way for goodness's sssake."

Skales grumbled something under his breath as he crossed his arms behind his back.

This attitude remained the same for the last fifty days. Of course, no one could really blame him. One couldn't expect anyone—especially serpentine, no less—to adjust so suddenly to a diverse lifestyle over a short duration of time.

Not too long ago, the serpentine had prided themselves in warmongering. The males needed to prove themselves quickly with their fighting skills. Do that and you could find yourself a place in the ranks. If you could not, you were dead-weight to the rest of the tribe.

However, times changed. Since their scrape with the Stone Army and ensuing effort to dig themselves out of the tomb, the serpentine have been reassessing their approach. They began asking themselves the same question: what was there to gain from clashing with the surface world again? They followed leaders with false promises and accomplished absolutely nothing from it. They had been better off spending their days in the tombs.

After much deliberation, the serpentine had chosen to leave the surface-dwellers alone and make the reformer Stone Army tomb their new home. In the process, they would adopt a new standard of living; one that was less war-like and more peace-loving.

The proposal was met with more than a handful of objections. While some serpentine embraced the idea wholeheartedly, many others were more hesitant. But over the course of many months, they had warmed up to their new routines. They were now more than satisfied to raise the next generation in a caring and sociable environment.

Skales's opinion on this? Well...

"Are you sssure it'sss not too late to offer the egg to another ssserpentine couple?" Skales asked. "No one would asssk quessstions."

Extasia whipped her head at her husband. "Skales! You are _not_ sssugesssting that we give up our baby!"

He lifted his hands. "It wasss jussst a thought, dearessst."

When Extasia stuck by a decision, she _stuck_ by it; Skales had to give her that. His wife's stubbornness was one of her most defining qualities. It was infuriating to deal with sometimes, but part of him loved her for it. Though he had to wonder if he knew what he was getting himself into back when he first courted her, he'd be more equipped to handle it.

Still, he couldn't understand why she insisted on having an egg. In Skales's opinion, it was too much of a hassle to bring up a child. He did not have the patience for children (and no, this was _before_ an experience with a certain son-of-the-evil-overlord...).

"Skales!"

The Hypnobrai general became alert. "What? What isss it?"

Extasia shook his arm, barely able to hold back a squeal. "The egg!"

Confused, Skales shifted his gaze back to the elliptical object.

_Wobble._

Skales blinked. Did he imagine it? Did the egg really just—

_Wobble… wobble…_

There it was again. The quivering was subtle, but it was there. That could only mean...

_Wobble… wobble-wobble…_

The egg was hatching.

The serpentine couple stared in expectation. The egg's trembling amplified to the point that it was almost bouncing in its nest. They could make out the bulges of something writhing around inside, ready to break out at any given—

_Pop_.

And there it was. From the side of the egg, a newborn Hypnobrai head peeked out. It babbled as it slowly crawled its way out onto the nest, leaving behind its punctured shell and trails of slime.

Skales saw that the infant had a teal skin tone; a commonly shared feature among the males in the Hypnobrai tribe. A white hood rested on the back of his head, just above his not-very protruded face. The general also noted that the young one's eyes were sealed shut, but he was aware that serpentine newborns took a few days to open their eyes. When they did, he was convinced that they would reveal a set of crimson eyes.

If she had tear ducts, Extasia would have wept by now.

"Oh, Skales," she said, lifting the infant into her arms. "Look at him. He'sss ssso beautiful. He even hasss your ssskin."

"Yesss, I can sssee that," Skales said bluntly, keeping his distance.

Too overjoyed to chastise her husband, Extasia gently took her son's outstretched hand. "Hello, little one. We're going to be your mommy and daddy from now on."

The newborn's babbles persisted, but they sounded quieter as if he was comforted by his mother's presence.

Extasia turned to her husband. "Skales, come hold him."

The request caught Skales off-guard. He even slithered back a little. "I'd prefer it if I didn't."

"He'sss your ssson for crying out loud," Extasia said this time rolling her eyes. "He'sss not going to bite you. Hisss fangsss haven't even grown in yet."

Skales heaved an exasperated sigh. "_Fine_."

Wanting to get this father-son bonding over with, Skales accepted the infant into his arms (although the position that the general held him in was a lot more awkward-looking than when his wife had the child).

"Hello, little...tyke," he greeted, the word leaving an odd taste in his mouth. "Ssso you're the future of the Hypnobrai Tribe, aren't you? That's a big resssponsssibility on your ssshoulders. You bessst not let usss down."

His response came in the form of a sneeze.

Extasia looked on approvingly. "I think we should call him Skales Jr.."

The Hypnobrai general scoffed. "Flattering, but not one of your mossst original creationsss, dear."

"Well, he looksss like a little you, don't you think?"

Skales was tempted to protest against the very notion. But before those words could be verbalized, he felt the young serpentine squirming again in his arms. He looked down, noticing that the infant seemed to be trying to press himself closer to the general's body. He gave a small, content murmur.

Looking back on it, Skales couldn't believe how such a tiny gesture changed his world. A surge of emotions overwhelmed him as the tiniest of smiles crept to his face.

"Skales Jr. it isss."

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**This was my first Ninjago fic _and_ my first attempt at writing Skales. I hope that I wrote him in-character enough. DX **

**Technically, Skales's wife hasn't been named yet in-show (if that changes, I'll be sure to revise this to avoid confusion). But, for the sake of giving her a name in this, I asked permission from a Ninjago fan on tumblr (named prpldragon) to use their fan-nickname for her in this. I want to thank them again for it! It means a lot.**


End file.
